Alfonso VI of Castile

Alfonso VI of Castile (1040-1110) was the king of Castile from 1072 until his death. Alfonso was known as "The Valiant", "The Honorable", "The Crusader", and "the Saint", for a variety of triumphs achieved in his life. He was defeated at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086 but recovered by defeating the Moors in a series of battles. He would go on a crusade to the Holy Land and his last action as King of Castile was to seize a Byzantine Empire castle at Nicosia.

Biography
Alfonso was the son and successor of Sancho II of Castile, who was assassinated in 1072. Alfonso married Constance of Burgundy in his young years. After the death of his father, he ousted the great general El Cid from his power base and fought a series of campaigns against the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Zaragoza, and the Almoravid Empire. In 1084 he captured the city of Valencia from El Cid's army, and waged war with the Almoravids. Despite a crushing defeat at the Battle of Sagrajas two years later, he recovered from this shock defeat. In 1094 he captured Zaragoza from the Taifa of Zaragoza and made peace with the Moors soon after, and even made an alliance later on.

During his rule he married his daughter Teresa el Valiente to Antonio Tarcia, Urraca el Valiente to Enrique de Bolaque, and his son Rodrigo I of Spain to the daughter of the Kingdom of Portugal Maria el Valiente. He also made diplomatic alliances with the Kingdom of France, Holy Roman Empire, and the Kingdom of England.

In 1102 he recommended a crusade to the holy lands to the Pope, who accepted his targets and launched the crusade. He took an army of 11,400 troops and sailed for the Holy Lands, but first made a base camp on Cyprus. He conquered the island from Vasileios of Nicosia, the governor for the Byzantine Empire, and peacefully occupied the capital of Nicosia. He proceeded to invade the Holy Lands, but died in Cyprus of illness. His son Rodrigo would succeed him.